Slayers Learn
by Lord Slayer
Summary: Lina's on her way to an important festival in Lei Magnus' hometown, but an evil plot is brewing that threatens to ruin everything. Takes place a few days before Slayers season 1. Prequel to Slayers Reconcile. Complete.
1. Chapter 1: Not Crispy, But Still Dead

**Author's Note: **Alright, I've gotten most of what I needed to do done now, though I won't be updating nearly as fast as what I did with my first story. This one is a prequel to **Slayers Reconcile**, and takes place a few days before the very first episode of Slayers. Along with explaining what happened to Lina during the six months seperating her rather messy (and combustive) breakup from Dameon Black and Naga, and her meeting with Gourry, this will also give explain how the Dragon Fang's got a hold of a few certain relics. I'm especially excited about this one because now I get to introduce my favorite OC for Slayers. I am a bit worried though, because I may have unintentionally made him a Mary Sue/Gary Stu, so any suggestions about how to take care of that will be highly appreciated.

**Disclaimer:** *while wearing hard hat* I do not own Slayers, it is the property of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. Although it would be awesome to own the Slayers franchise, I do not; and there is no reason to be sad about what I cannot change. *L-Sama appears out of nowhere and smacks me in the _side_ of the head with her shovel* Owww…. Wow, I didn't see that coming.

**Slayers Learn**

**Chapter 1: Not Crispy, But Definitely Dead***

The young priestess and her master crested the hill and looked out over the countryside, their destination in sight at long last.

"We're almost there," the man said.

His apprentice said nothing.

The man was of average height, with a swordsman's sturdy build, but wore a black sorcerer's robe with gold trim. At his side was an impressive-looking hand-and-a-half sword, and around his shoulders was a long cloak which matched his robes. His features were strong and handsome; and his gray eyes were sharp and piercing like a hawk, though they were also filled with wisdom and kindness. A scar from a battle of long ago had been cut halfway across his sharp chin. His hair was long and spiky, and pulled back into a long ponytail; the ebony strands were naturally highlighted by the white streaks of age.

The girl, who was about fourteen or fifteen, had long red hair which was pulled back into a braid, and bright green eyes. He face had soft, cute features, and her body was quite petite. She wore the white robes of Ceipeed: a light, modest dress-like garment with flowing sleeves.

The two travelers continued down the long, dusty road, slowly making their way towards the city of Magnum. The pair had spent many long days on the road to the birthplace of the legendary sorcerer Lei Magnus. Their purpose was a biennial sorcerer's conference to which the master had been invited to attend as a guest speaker. It was also to aid in a special training regime for the young apprentice.

It was about mid afternoon, and only five miles from the city gates when the travelers suddenly found themselves surrounded by a gang of vicious-looking bandits.

"Heh, heh, heh, look at what we have here, boys!" the bandit chief laughed. "A couple of rich-looking travelers! And one of em's a cute little girl to boot! Boy, did we get lucky or what!?"

The other bandits chuckled evilly at this.

The girl in priestess robes looked up at her master with a question in her eyes.

Guessing easily what the young girl was asking, the master replied by shaking his in a negatory gesture.

He then turned to face the bandit chief and said, "Here now, Master Bandit. Why must you steal from us? Why can't you get an honest job like regular law-abiding folks?"

"Heh, and why would we ever want to be law-abiding citizens who do honest work?" the chief bandit replied. "We've got a pretty sweet gig right here: Maximum pay at minimum work, we don't have to pay taxes or get drafted into the army, we get to hack people's limbs off whenever we want, and we get our choice of pretty girls."

The young woman cringed in revulsion as the bandit chief settled his hungry gaze upon her and licked his lips.

"But there are so many rather nasty negatives," the middle-aged sorcerer argued, "No permanent home, you're always on the run from the law, you get hanged if your caught…,"

The bandits scoffed and rolled their eyes.

"…And you never know when you'll run into Lina Inverse."

That got their attention.

In fact, it sent most of them into a blind panic.

"Li-Lina the Bandit Killer!?" one robber yelled.

"The Enemy of All Who Live!?" exclaimed another.

"Noooooo! Don't let Lina kill meeeeee!" screamed a third.

"Yep, that's the one," the man replied with a chuckle.

After several minutes, the bandit chief finally regained control of his men (and his own composure) and then laughed. "Oh, come on! Haven't you heard, man? No one's seen Lina Inverse in almost six months! Some people have even been saying that she's dead. And as for that, I hope it's true. That little flat-chested witch has caused so much trouble for my kind…"

"You know," the sorcerer interrupted, "You might want to be a bit more careful about what you say. You never know when you'll run into Ms. Inverse."

The bandit chief spat. "Yeah, sure. You know, that's about one of the worst bluffs that I've ever heard. Now, are you and Little-Miss Evil Eyes gonna hand over everything that you've got, or what?"

Puzzled, the sorcerer glanced down at his apprentice, who was indeed glaring at the head bandit murderously.

The sorcerer put a hand upon her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. At this, the girl reluctantly began to relax.

At last, the sorcerer sighed and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that if you want anything from us, then you'll have to either ask nicely, or take it by force. And I warn you: If you choose the latter, then you may not live to regret it."

The bandit chief spat again, then snarled, "You're in no position to make threats old timer-,"

"Old timer? I'm only forty-five. I'm not old!"

"-And my boys and I are getting bored of this pointless blathering. Let's get 'em lads! It's pillage and plunder time!"

With that, the bandits charged with swords waving and half-sober voices bellowing.

"Hmph, idiots," the girl finally said with an eye roll. "Oh well, you warned them."

"That's right," the man agreed with a resigned sigh, which was belayed by a battle-eager grin. He grabbed his sword.

There was the sound of steel scraping steel as the hand-and-a-half sword was drawn from its sheath. Then the blade began to whistle and sing as it cleaved through the air. A splash of crimson mist and several strangled cries filled the air. Bodies fell to the floor, and weapons dropped to the ground, followed by the sharp clack of a sword returning to its sheath. One dozen strokes had fallen, and twelve highway men had been felled.

And the pair continued on.

**To Be Continued…**

**Secondary Author's Note- **The title of this chapter is a reference to the first chapter of my original Slayer's fan fic **Reconcile** for those of you who have not read it or who don't remember.

Sorry for chapter being so short. The next one will be longer, I promise.


	2. Chapter 2: Ralse Kalvos

**Slayers Learn**

**Chapter 2:**

**Ralse Kalvos**

It was evening by the time the pair finally managed to find an inn with vacancy. The city of Magnum was packed with sorcerers from all over the Mazoku Peninsula, and very few inns had been left. Much to the girl's relief, they had been lucky enough to arrive at an end who had just received word of a cancellation on a reserved room, and so they had been able to move in.

"Whoo, long journey," the man said as he settled down into a comfortable cushioned chair, giving up the bed to his female companion. "I'm so glad that its over."

"You still have to give that lecture in a couple of days," the girl reminded him with a wicked grin.

"Yech, don't spoil my mood," the man laughed.

"Well I'm just glad that we're alone, and that I can get out of this stupid get-up!" the girl said as she pulled her white robes over her head and off of her body. She then sharply rapped each side of her head until a small circle of specially colored glass popped out of each eye and into one hand. Her eyes were revealed to be the color of rubies. Beneath the priestess robes, the girl wore a yellow sleeveless sweater, red pants, and black boots.

After laying the robe out over a table, the girl turned to inspect the contents of her traveling bag. Contained within was a shortsword, a fat sack of coins, a pair of fur trimmed gloves, camping gear, a black cape with red trim, a pair of fancy pauldrons, and a headband.

"So, Lina," said the man, "What did you think of what those bandits said about you being dead?"

"What do I care about what a bunch of robbers think of me, Master Kalvos?" replied Lina Inverse. "I know that I'm alive, and that's all that matters."

"And yet you seemed about ready to blast with a Dragon Slave upon hearing their rather low opinion of you," the man named Kalvos teased. Then he grew more serious and said, "Don't forget about what I've told you of keeping your temper, Lina. An angry spellcaster is a more easily defeated spellcaster- never mind the fact that its that temper of yours which has earned you such a bad reputation to begin with."

"Yes, master," Lina sighed dramatically.

Ralse Kalvos was one of the world's premier sorcerers. Born in Atlas City to a well-to-do family, Kalvos had been able to receive a superb education at the Atlas City Sorcerer's Guild. This, combined with his naturally high potential for magic and love of learning, allowed his to quickly rise to the top of his class. After graduating, Kalvos had spent two decades traveling the land to study all different types of magic. Upon returning from his travels, he had spent many years teaching at different Sorcerer's Guilds all over the Peninsula. It was while teaching at one of these guilds that he had met a young student named Lina Inverse.

Ralse's first impression of the young Lina had been that she was a highly intelligent and talented girl with vast amounts of potential, but far too greed driven and an all too short temper. He had tried as hard as possible to impress upon her before her graduation the importance of ethics and controlling one's anger, but those lessons clearly had not sunk in.

Two years later, Kalvos had resigned from his post as a teacher in order to further his own studies. His usual place of residence now was his own Sorcerer's Tower in Atlas City.

It was there that Kalvos had once more met with Lina six months earlier asking- no- begging for training; training to help her forget her hurt. Kalvos had met with Lina twive before since her graduation- brief run-ins with her and her goofy, scantily-clad partner Naga the Serpent- and both times Lina had been much the way she had been during her Sorcerer's Guild days. When she had come to him for training, though, she had been alone, and much changed. Downtrodden, badly hurt emotionally, scared. Completely gone had been her old flamboyancy, enthusiasm, and happiness. Ralse had immediately recognized her for what she was: Someone who had been betrayed by close friends.

Ralse had agreed to take the poor girl in and train her, and had wisely left the subject of her grief alone. He knew that Lina was strong, and thus would surely heal in time. In the meantime, he had drilled into her every skill that she would could master, both in magic and in life. And as time had passed, Lina had indeed healed, and was now much as she had been before; except now more mature, both in mind (she had finally begun to take in (some) of his lessons on morality and the control of one's temper, albeit grudgingly), body (she was a bit taller and her hair had grown lighter), and in skill. Now it was at last time for Lina's final lesson.

"Lina," Kalvos began cautiously, "As you are well aware of, during these past six months I have not once asked you about whatever happened that caused you to come to me. I know that someone like you heals faster when given space, and I also knew that if you ever wanted to tell me then you would, so I left it alone."

"Yeah," Lina said quietly, the old sorrow now beginning to creep back into her voice. "And, really, I can't tell you how much it means to me that you did that."

Kalvos nodded. "You are most welcome."

The older sorcerer paused a moment to collect his thoughts, then said, "Lina, you and I both know that you were already an amazing magic user, and an excellent swordswoman even before you came to me. Thus, there was not a lot that I could teach you in those areas, and so I focused more on teaching you other things: Things that you weren't so cooperative about learning when you were in school."

Lina said nothing.

"The height of morality is forgiveness, Lina."

Again, the red haired young woman said nothing.

"You don't have to do it now, Lina," he said, "It's far too soon. But perhaps you can at least tell me what happened. That will go a long way in the healing process."

Lina suddenly found the patterns formed by grains of the wooden floor quiet fascinating, and turned over on the bed to better study them.

"It had something to do with your friend Naga, didn't it?"

The sorceress continued to refuse to speak, but Kalvos knew that he had been spot-on by the way that the girl's small body had tensed, and as the muscles of her bare arms clenched as her now-hidden hands formed into fists.

"And that young man that you spoke so highly of in that last letter you sent before coming to me, Dameon Black. He was involved too, wasn't he?"

There was a strange note of something in Ralse's voice as he spoke those last two sentences, but Lina didn't notice. In fact- to Kalvos' surprise- her entire body suddenly went slack, as if it had suddenly become numb. Even more surprising, the sorcerer swore that he even heard her sniffle, as if trying to hold back tears.

"Lina?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"It was about a month and a half or so before coming to you," Lina said softly without turning back around to face him. "Me and Naga had found Dameon beaten up by the roadside one day…,"

"Yes, I remember. You had explained that all in your letter," Kalvos nodded.

"Well," Lina continued, "I guess that there was some kind of attraction between me and him, or something like that. He started traveling with us, and I guess we might have had some kind of relationship. He said that he loved me, but I don't know…"

She paused for several seconds.

Ralse waited patiently.

"A-anyway," she began, still without turning to face her teacher. It was obvious from her voice that she had started crying, but was trying to hide it.

"Anyway," she started once more, this time succeeding to carry on, "Six months ago, me, Dameon, and Naga were staying at this really cheap inn with paper thin walls. I was woken up in the middle of the night by some kind of commotion in Naga's room. I ran over to see what was going on and…and…and I saw him there with HER!"

With that, Lina sat up and faced her mentor, the tears now running unashamedly down her face. "And when I caught them, all she had to say was that it wasn't what it looked like, and that Dameon was just using me to take over the world, or some crap like that. I didn't listen. I didn't care what those traitors had to say. I tore down that inn in less than ten seconds, then blew them up until I couldn't stand to be anywhere near them anymore. Then I ran. I ran and I ran until…until…"

"As she spoke, Lina had steadily become louder and more hysterical. At last she was so worked up that she couldn't speak at all.

"Until you came to me," Ralse Kalvos finished.

Lina nodded.

They sat still for several long minutes while the older magician contemplated on what his next words should be. Meanwhile, his apprentice continued to sob, grateful to have finally been able to let out all of her pent-up emotions.

"I understand how you feel," Ralse began carefully, "But I have a gut feeling that you would have done better to have heard Naga out before you started flinging spells around."

Lina looked up and stared at him incredulously.

"And I've done some research on this Dameon Black. I haven't found anything definite on him, but I have heard some rather unsavory rumors about him that could add credence to Naga's claims…"

"Master, please," Lina interrupted, her tear-stained face now quite expressionless. "I'm tired, and I…you…please, just let me get some sleep."

Ralse nodded in understanding. "Yes, it is late, and I'm very sorry for distressing you. Good night, Lina."

The fact that she was calling him "Master" without sarcasm was probably a good sign that it was unwise to press much further. And anyway, it WAS getting late, and she WAS clearly quite worn out emotionally.

"Good night," Lina replied, then laid back down upon the bed, and cocooned herself within her sheets. With a final few silent tears, Lina Inverse drifted off to sleep.

Ralse watched her for several minutes, then gave a deep sigh.

"I'm truly sorry that you had to hear that, Lina," Ralse whispered as he settled back into his chair. "But you had to hear the truth." Though he knew that she was asleep, he did not dare mention of how he had met with both Naga and Dameon secretly while he had been training her, nor of how he had known about Black for many years.

"Perhaps now you can complete your healing," he ended, "And become greater than you ever were before. Good night, my Crimson Angel."

Then with a brief, whispered prayer to Ceipheed, Ralso Kalvos blew out the oil lamp with a soft gust of wind, and joined his apprentice in blissful slumber. The pair was enveloped was then enveloped in gentle, rest-giving shadows.

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note:** A few things that I would like to say about this chapter. First of all, yes, this will be where Lina makes her transition from her OVA/Movies outfit to the one that she wears thruought the rest of the anime. Second, I've noticed while watching the OVAs and Movies that Lina seems a bit less willing to help people for free and much more temperamental than she is in the First Season, so I thought that I might as well come up with a reason for that; though of course she becomes more like her usual hair-trigger self in the Second and Third season, and in the current season (yes, I count Revolution and Evolution-R as one season), she becomes even more prone to violence. Why this is, I don't know. Finally, Ralse Kalvos is the OC that I was worried about becoming a Stu. I'm rather attached to this character, so all anti-Stu suggestions will be GREATLY appreciated. Once again, all reviews are greatly appreciated.

**Next Time: **Dragon Fangs, Mummy Men, the plot thickens, the beginning of an EVIL plot, and the return of Dameon Black! Stay tuned!

L-Sama- Why didn't you give a spoiler alert for that, you buffoon! Stop giving stuff away!

BAM!

Me- Medic…


	3. Chapter 3: The Plot Thickens With a Plot

**Author's Note:** This chapter was pretty short, so I decided to go ahead and post it early instead of waiting the full week. At least it was pretty short when its original form. I found a few ways to lengthen it and make it better as I typed, and I must say I'm rather more satisfied with it than I was before. Let me know what you all think. Enjoy ^_^

**Slayers Learn**

**Chapter 3: **

**The Plot Thickens With a Plot**

As the night wore on, the city's refuse began to grow bolder. Soon Magnum's underworld was in full swing with the selling of slaves, the creation of counterfeit coins and other rare goods, the opening up of brothels, and the planning and carrying out of robberies, murders, and other crimes. Amongst these criminal elements was one group who would soon be of particular concern to Lina Inverse.

Down the darkened alleyways and street corners of downtown Magnum came three men. One was short and squat, with a bald head and a furry vest died pink. Another one of them was slightly above average height, fairly well muscled, and had spiky blue hair, an eyepatch (for cosmetic effect only), a gray woolen cloak, and a scimitar. The third man was a bit older than the other two, of average height, with a full head and mustache of blue-green hair and a red and black cape with a high collar.

The first man was the chief of a fairly successful gang of bandits known as the Dragon Fangs- named for their mascot and pet: a black dragon. The second was the Chief's right hand man, a fair swordsman, and a rather unsuccessful lady's man. The third was a mysterious sorcerer named Zolf, who had recently joined the gang for reasons known only to himself, and had quickly risen to become one of the most trusted members and the boss' number three.

After over half an hour of walking in complete silence in the filth-strewn streets, the trio at last found themselves outside of a shady tavern called the Lusty Maiden. Hanging above the bar's entrance was a painted sign with an apt illustration that really shouldn't be seen by anyone under the age of eighteen.

"Is this the place?" Zolf asked, staring up at the admittedly well-made illustration with a mix of disgust and arousal.

"Ya, I'm pretty sure it is," the Chief replied. "His message said dis was his favorite bar, and dat it's pretty hard ta miss…or forget."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to forget about this place anytime soon," the eyepatch wearing bandit drooled, his one visible eye bugging out.

"Well, we're late anyway, so let's go."

With that, the three entered the crowded bar and began to scan for their summoner.

After enquiring of one of the bar's all-female (and all well-endowed) employees, they were sent to a private table in the back which was occupied solely by a young man with spiked black hair and dark colored robes.

"It's about time you showed up," the young man snapped, leaning back in his chair and with his feet propped up on top of the table.

"Just doin' a bit o' sight seein' on our way here, Mr. Black," the pudgy bandit leader said as he sat down in the only other chair at the table. He then ordered a beer from one of the immodestly dressed barmaids.

"We have less than two days before this Conference is at its height," Dameon Black growled, "We have no time to spare. And anyway, there'll be plenty of loot for you and the others after we're done, as I've already promised you."

"Yeah, yeah," the Chief said callously as he received his ale and gave his serving wench a lustful ogle.

"Who's the bear?" the Eyepatch Man, who was standing on either side of the boss' chair along with Zolf, asked scornfully, referring to the bald-headed, bronze-skinned, muscle-bound titan of a man who stood silently at Black's shoulder. The bandit despised men who were obviously far more attractive to the opposite sex than he was.

"This is my associate and bodyguard Hercule," Black replied. "He is a skilled warrior under my employ, and a major player in my attack plan."

"Pleased to meet you, Tiny," the man named Hercule greeted mockingly in a deep, heavily accented voice.

Eyepatch scoffed scornfully, liking the giant far less than before. Then he got an idea and asked, "So, you compensatin' for something, or what?" this was in reference to the massive broadsword strapped across Hercule's back.

Both the Chief and Zolf snickered at this, and even Dameon was unable to hold back a smile.

"You implying something, runt?" the huge man demanded angrily as he took a step forward and reached for his sword.

"Enough, all of you!" Black suddenly snapped. "We have a very difficult task ahead of us, and cooperation is key!"

"Yes, sir," Hercule replied sullenly and backed down.

"Of course," the Chief grinned as he downed his ale and raised his glass for a refill. "Now explain this plan of yours to us."

A couple of hours later, the three Dragon Fangs left the bar with Eyepatch supporting the Chief and Zolf following a short ways behind the other two.

The plan that Black had described had certainly been long thought out, and certainly overly complex. Although he had doubts about it, the wizard had not voiced any objects to the possibility of success. Stranger things had certainly happened. And anyway, the plan didn't have to go exactly as planned; in fact, it could flat-out fail as far as he was concerned. Just so long as it gave him the opportunity to get _that._

What did arouse Zolf's concern, however, was the Chief. As complex as Black's scheme was, Zolf would be surprised if the fat little man was capable of retaining- or even comprehending- all of that data on his best day. The fact that the Chief had been guzzling down pint after pint thruought the entire meeting clearly did nothing to alleviate the sorcerer's fears.

"Are you sure the boss got all that?" Zolf whispered worriedly to his only still-sober companion.

"Ah, don't worry about the boss," Eyepatch assured his friend. "He can drink his own body weight in booze and still remember everything that happened the night before, crystal clear! He knows how important this is, so he didn't do any real heavy drinkin' tonight. Trust me, he barely got started."

This served only to make Zolf even more concerned, but the sorcerer said nothing. Instead he sighed and said, "Alright, if you say so."

"Come on yous two dirty bumsh-th!" the Chief yelled loudly, "Quit dawdlin'! We needta fill the resta da crew in- then go find ush shome girlsh-th!"

"Yes, sir!" Eyepatch replied enthusiastically and quickened the pace, though still slow enough that his staggering chieftain could keep up.

Zolf sighed again.

"I have this horrible feeling that everything's going to go terribly wrong," he said, stopping to stare up at the stars for omens. However, there were so many clouds out that night that even the moon was barely visible. That in itself did not bode well.

"Oh well," the sorcerer shrugged, "So long as I get it for Master Zelgadis, it doesn't really matter."

Then he ran to catch back up with his employers, already beginning to prepare himself mentally for the coming raid upon the Magnum Sorcerer's Conference.

**To Be Continued…**


	4. Chapter 4: Magnum SorcCon 1011

**Chapter 4: Magnum Sorc-Con 1011**

"…And so you see, I am not condemning specialization. Rather, I am encouraging you to become harder to predict in battle- something which is especially helpful if your opponent happens to know what it is you specialize in. An opponent that has spent the whole battle fighting against golems rarely expects an attack from the golem master him or herself. And I know from long experience that no one ever expects to get hit with a fireball from the opposing party's healer.

"So go forth! Master new spells! Expand your horizons! Stick those aces up your sleeves! Then you'll be one step closer to invincibility! Thank you."

The crowded auditorium erupted into loud applause. Many sharp whistles and shouts of approval were let out as Ralse Kalvos took a bow and left the podium to return to his seat.

A large group of teenage sorceresses about Lina's age in the front row jumped up and down while holding up home-made signs. Lina rolled her eyes and smiled as the girls bounced wildly while screaming their signs' message with a loud, "We love you Ralse Kalvos!"

Lina had been standing by her mentor's side for most of the morning and most of the previous day listening to half a dozen lectures from an equal number of big-name wizards. Then she had continued to stand by Ralse's unoccupied seat as he had gone up to give his own speech. Yes, she knew that her job at the moment was to play the part of the dutiful young apprentice, but boy did her feet hurt. Then her stomach grumbled loudly.

Lina grinned innocently as Ralse turned around in his seat to give her an amused look, though none of the other sorcerers and apprentices standing by seemed to have noticed over the still-roaring crowd.

As the applause began to die down, the director of the Magnum Sorcerer's Guild stood back up from amongst the assembled guest speakers. Lina guessed that he was probably in his late fifties and may have once been a very well-built man, though he had long since gone to pot. Once the big man in emerald green robes made it to the podium, the noise of the audience began to fade away.

"Thank you, Ralse Kalvos, for that most invigorating lecture!" the director boomed in a deep, jovial baritone while stroking his thick, white walrus mustache. "And many thanks to all the rest of you- my esteemed colleagues- for coming here to share your wisdom and experience with the younger generations.

Ralse and the other guest speakers arose again from their seats and bowed, inciting another round of loud applause.

"And that concludes the guest lectures," The director continued once he could be heard again, "We will now break for lunch, and allow you to enjoy the rest of the festivities at your leisure. We hope that you will join us again at four for the Ancient Magic Relics Exhibit on the top floor of the greater tower. Please enjoy the rest of your day here at the Fifty-Seventh Magnum Sorcerer's Convention. Thank you!"

A final storm of applause ended the lectures.

Though it was at last time to eat, it was Kalvos' expected duty as a guest speaker to hang about to answer questions, make small talk, and sign autographs. Amongst those who came to visit with the famed sorcerer was the screaming group of teenage girls with the signs. Lina waited patiently with a coy smile, all the while wishing desperately that everyone would buzz off so that she could eat and give her aching feet a rest.

To his credit, Kalvos did do his best to speed things along as politely as possible, being all-too aware of Lina's lack of patience and insatiable appetite. Despite his best efforts though, it still took him and his apprentice "Linda Linverse" over forty-five minutes to extricate themselves from the giant auditorium.

Five feet from the door and salvation, however, and three more people materialized out of the crowd and stepped in front of them. Lina groaned quietly and stared up at the ceiling while tapping her foot impatiently.

The strangers were, presumably, one female accompanied by two males. The woman was about six feet tall, possessed a muscular yet curvy figure, wore a militaristic outfit, and had short but elaborately done red**/**green hair (I don't mean that she has red and green hair. It means that I'm indecisive about it. See bottom of page*). Her escorts both wore dark cloaks, though the taller one was wrapped completely in his, and wore a hood and stone mask to conceal his features. The other escort carried a staff with a red gem, had a long purple bowl cut, and a light, cheerful expression.

"That was quite a speech, Kalvos," the woman said as she and her chaperones came to a stop before the sorcerer and his apprentice, clapping lightly and with a mocking gleam in your eye.

"Oh, its you," Ralse said not unkindly, though the look in his eyes made it clear that the trio was not welcome.

Lina's stomach rumbled again and the sorceress sighed heartily, spacing-out from pure boredom.

"I'd be more respectful if I were you," the man in the cloak and mask said in an echoing, ethereal voice.

"Now, now, Seigraam," the woman chastised, putting a hand out to stop her bodyguard, "No need to be rude. We're not here to fight."

"Then what are you here for?" Ralse demanded, raising his voice ever-so slightly. He had by now noticed the shimmering of the surrounding air around himself and the three strangers, indicating the presence of a sound-dampening field.

"Oh, I was just bored sitting around, so I came by to see what the biggest nuisance inside the Mazoku Barrier was up to," she said, leaning backwards until her back popped loudly.

"So you don't have any plans for this convention then?" Ralse asked, his eyes narrowing with distrust.

"Well…," the woman began, pretending to think about it. Then she waved a hand towards her purple-haired escort as if inviting him to jump in. Which he did.

"THAT is a secret!" the priest exclaimed, raising an index finger as he spoke.

"I'm sure it is," Ralse said without expression while the other two laughed between themselves. Seigraam said nothing.

"Well, I better get back to Wolf Pack Island before Phibs throws a fit about the barrier again. Be seeing you, Kalvos!"

With that, the woman turned on her heel and walked off until she and her escorts literally disappeared into the crowd.

"Ugh, finally!" Lina groaned upon noticing that the newest group of groupies and/or colleagues was gone. As she and her master at long last exited the auditorium, her stomach gave another angry roar.

"Hungry much?" Ralse asked with a grin, having already cast aside all thoughts of the encounter. There was no need for Lina to become acquainted with HER and her priest any sooner than necessary.

"Just a little," Lina replied with a wink and a grin.

Master and apprentice continued on down the crowded hall towards the cafeteria. Neither had yet brought up the episode from two nights before, and as far as Lina was concerned, it could stay that way.

Despite her hunger and her aching feet, Lina was still able to call up the energy to admire all of the strange and interesting things that were for sale at the huge convention. Brightly colored robes and cloaks and fat tomes filled the numerous booths, as did collections of sparkling gems and necklaces, shiny crystal balls, and countless other magical odds and ends ranging from the common, the rare, and the unidentifiable, to the just plain weird. It was a virtual treasure trove of magic devices, and Lina could barely contain herself from dashing about to check out everything in sight. And just by looking at him, she could tell that her teacher was much the same way, and this pleased her to no end.

At last unable to contain herself, Lina finally broke down and stopped to look at a booth where a demonstration was being given on experimental magic weapons technology.

Although this booth already had a sizable crowd in front of it, one look at Ralse from the other sorcerers gathered there, and Lina and her teacher soon found themselves up front and standing next to a tall tiger beastman in a cloak and headband (much taller than any tiger beastman that either Lina or Ralse had ever seen), with a strange stuffed…bunny?...perched upon his right pauldron. Although certainly an odd sight, many people were known to wear and do odd things during conventions like this, and so Lina dismissed it without a second thought.

They watched for about twenty minutes before Lina's stomach went off again, this time much more forcefully than before and accompanied by a renewed protest from her sore feet. Lina sighed, the crowd and the demonstrator's stared, and Ralse laughed. So they continued on.

It was shortly after this that the pair came across a booth selling miniature souvenir golems. The stand was run by three people: one a tall and muscular older man with a short, gray beard; the second was a young man in his early twenties with a long, maroon-colored pompadour; and the third was a chesty-yet modest girl in her mid-teens with pink hair done up in two large pigtails, and an expression like she was terribly embarrassed to be in the presence of the other two. All three of them looked irritatingly familiar to Lina, who had to stop and observe them a moment to think about it.

Then Lina noticed the golem-seller's center-piece product and it all came back to her: A huge-eyed, chibi-style clay doll that looked as if it were supposed to be in caricature of…

"Oh, Master, I'd love to stay and keep looking, but my feet hurt really bad and I'm really hungry, so let's go to the cafeteria now, okay? Okay! Let's go!" All of this was said in under two second, and was followed by Lina grabbing Ralse by the arm and dashing down the hall at an incredible speed with her teacher in tow, nearly taking out an indigo-haired girl in the process.

"Um, dad," the pink haired girl at the golem booth said to the older man as the dust from the sudden take-off began to settle, "Was that Lina Inverse?"

"Hmph, maybe. Who knows?" the gray haired man replied in his gruff voice.

* * *

"The Amazing Lina Doll!?" Ralse roared with laughter, nearly choking on his drink, "A golem match!? You've never told me that one before!"

Lina's cheeks turned an angry red as she crammed another whole pork loin into her mouth, now regretting that she had chosen to explain herself at all. Master Kalvos was a nice guy and all, and really understanding, but he was far too easily entertained.

Several minutes passed as Kalvos tried to bring himself under control, though his efforts were often thwarted by random bursts of laughter. The hilarity of the tale had struck the older sorcerer's fancy so much that he had almost failed to notice the tea-sipping man with a staff sitting behind them whilst casually eavesdropping. Almost.

Lina merely grumbled in irritation and continued to shovel down food as if she were a starved dragon.

More than once people stopped what they were doing to stare. Although sorcerers typically required a much higher calorie intake than most other humans- and many were carrying trays weighed down by heavily laden plates of food- few had ever seen anyone eat like Lina Inverse, er, Linda Linverse.

"Please excuse my apprentice," Kalvos smiled apologetically at the starers between bursts of laughter, "She's a black magic specialist." Amongst other things, Ralse Kalvos had obviously failed to teach Lina anything about table manners, as she had thought it to be of no consequence.

Those who had been staring nodded in understanding and returned to what they had been doing. Black magic was well known for consuming far more energy than most other spells.

"Not a half bad lecture," Lina complimented through her fourth helping of calamari, "Despite the fact that it's a lesson I've been practicing since before you'd even met me."

"Yes, but it's an important lesson all the same," Ralse- who had finally gotten a hold of himself- replied as he bit into a chicken-fried drumstick. "Though I really would have preferred to do my one on magic and morality. 'Far too preachy.' Hmph! Indeed!"

This last part was said while alternating between a mocking imitation of Lina's voice and a bucket load of indignant sarcasm, respectively.

"Thank Ceipheed for that," laughed Lina.

"Of, really? Well let's go ask Ceipheed himself about it. I'm sure that Luna- the Knight of Ceipheed- would love to hear that my thoughts on morality are boring!"

"That's not funny!" Lina growled angrily while her mentor laughed.

The man eavesdropping behind them put a hand to his mouth and laughed as well, though Ralse continued to ignore his existence.

Suddenly Ralse stopped and sniffed at the air.

"Hey, wait a second," he said, "Do you smell sulfur?"

Lina sniffed at the air too, and then gagged.

"Yeah," she replied, "What is that?"

By now the rest of the people in the cafeteria were sniffing the air with disgust. As Ralse and Lina stood up and began to look about for the source, this disgust quickly degenerated into full-on gagging and spluttering. In some cases, people were even falling to their knees and vomiting.

Then Lina turned towards the hall which led out to the guild's main entrance and saw it: A drifting green-yellow cloud flowing into the cafeteria; preceded by gasping sorcerers falling to the ground unconscious.

"Poison gas!" Lina gasped.

They were under attack!

**To Be Continued…**

**Author's Note- **Can you find and name all of the cameos? Magic cookies of justice for everyone who answers correctly!

* The Hair Color Thing: I'm aware that the novels describe her human form as having orange/red hair, and I try to be as canon as possible with my fics (not to mention that red is my usual hair preference), but whenever I see that manga picture of her and Dolphin, I can't help but picture her with mint green hair. Suggestions for a decision for this fic are GREATLY appreciated, and in fact are encouraged, as this indecision is driving me crazy. For my source info on Z.M. and the aforementioned picture, go to: http://

kanzaka.

wikia

.com/wiki/Greater_Beast_Zelas_Metallium


	5. Chapter 5: Another Bandit Army

**Author's Note: **Sorry for yet another short chapter. Just know, however, that this one was one was heavily revised. I'm sorry to say that even though I managed to squeeze Zangulus into this chapter, I probably won't tell anything about what he does during the attack. I'm saving that for if and when I ever get around to doing my next series, the Zangulus Chronicles. Lucky for you readers, though, you get a sneak peak of my proposed origin story for him. Please enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Slayers. It belongs to Hajime Kanzaka and…

L-Sama- And do you know what happened with Kanzaka-sama in the afterwords of the Slayer novels?

Me- Uhhh….You hit him and Lei Magnus/Sharbanigdo continually over the head with a shovel and other blunt objects?

L-Sama *grins cheerily* Straight up. *WHAM!*

Me- AAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH! Why, oh why!? Why me?!

**Chapter 5: **

**Another Army of Bandits**

Zolf stood atop the roof of the Golden Goose Inn, one of the tallest buildings in Magnum outside of the Sorcerer's Guild. He was gazing out towards the guild with a spyglass held up to his eye, and with the leaders of several mercenary and bandit gangs gathered around him.

"Has the signal been sent up yet?" the chief of the Dragon Fangs complained from where he sat cross legged on the floor, a half-empty bottle of whisky clutched in his chubby fingers.

"Not yet," Zolf answered, also eager to begin the attack.

"Well I'm sick of waiting!" another bandit leader announced, stamping his foot like a three year old whose parents won't give him what he wants.

"That little runt better be able to provide," a mercenary captain griped, "My men and I don't come cheap."

"You don't come cheap?" a second mercenary, a somewhat scrawny man with blue-black hair who Zolf knew called himself Lord Vista, "You're about the cheapest cutthroat there is! You'll work for anyone who tosses you a handful of bronze, and have your men forage for food when you've got a whole chest of gold!"

"Oh, yeah? Well at I didn't sign up with that crazy hack-alchemist Diol, only to get blasted away by Lina Inverse!"

"Oh, like you could have done any better against that Dragon Spooker?"

"Yeah, I bet I coulda!"

"As if!"

"I could!"

"Hey! All of you! Shaddup! I'm trying to sleep!"

Everyone turned towards the lanky, black haired mercenary who was lying propped against the doorway to the stairs with his hand behind his head. He wore a brown vest and shroud cloak with a matching- albeit much more beat-up- pointed hat, and carried a longsword whose hilt was wrapped in tattered bandages. The noise level instantly died down.

Zolf shivered as he turned back to watch the tower. From what he heard of the mercenary Zangulus, he was not one to be crossed. According to rumor, Zangulus had been born to a tribe of nomads who wandered between the deserts of Elmekia and the western edge of the Desert of Destruction, a people said to teach their children how to wield a sword before they were old enough to speak. He was a man who strove to become the greatest swordsman alive, and who would fight for any cause, and slaughter anyone who crossed him without mercy…

Admittedly, Zolf had yet to see any indication of Zangulus being the fearsome man slayer that gossip made him out to be. In fact, he seemed rather laid-back, and maybe even a little dumb, but the green-haired wizard wasn't too anxious to find out how much of it was true.

Then at last he saw it: A thick plume of sickly yellow smoke rising out from the base of the smaller of the two towers of the Guild like a gigantic, evil snake.

Though Zolf could not see it, the smoke was rising out from a magically-reinforced, steel mesh-covered drain which let out the Guild's waste into a pipe that fed into Magnum's sewer. This design had been chosen long ago during the guild towers' construction so as to prevent unauthorized access via the sewers.

"That's it! That's the signal!" the green haired sorcerer shouted out, lowering his spyglass and pointing towards the Sorcerer's Guild.

'Bout time!" the Chief and several others declared. Swiftly, everyone took to the stairs and down into the streets where their men were waiting.

However, Zolf and Eyepatch had to stick around a little longer so as to help the Chief stagger back to his feet. By the time they got to the stairs, Zangulus had stood up and finished stretching, and so the mercenary accompanied them back down through the inn.

The dark haired warrior's expression of boredom did nothing to dispel the rumors of his ruthlessness from Zolf's mind, but the wizard quickly banished these thoughts from his head. This was no time to be getting distracted by hearsay! Instead, he filled his mind with reminders of the importance of his mission for Master Zelgadis, and the enormity of the task at hand.

The Magnum Sorcerer's Guild was of a very…unique… design. Designed and built by the famous architect Ulquiorano (one of his last projects before falling victim to severe schizophrenia), it was made up of two tall towers, surrounded by a spacious courtyard and a high stone wall. The smaller tower was eight stories tall, and the larger one twice that and the two were connected by two stone bridges with one connecting the two fourth floors, and one connecting the two eighth floors. The lesser tower was for public and day-to-day functions, containing an applicant testing center on the first floor, the auditorium, cafeteria and kitchens on the second, the student library on the third, and classrooms on all of the other floors. The first eight floors of the greater tower was made up of the student and staff dormitories, the next four floors were made up of training rooms for advanced students (as opposed to the training grounds in the courtyard for less skilled students), the thirteenth floor for taking the graduation test, the fourteenth floor with the Forbidden Library (for staff and full-fledged mages with special permission only), the Archives on the fifteenth floor (for staff and high-ranked mages only), and the ever impressive exhibit room on the sixteenth floor. The only way in or out (sans flying spells) was the enormous mythril and orihalcon gates on the lesser tower's base floor. All-in-all, a most impressive fortress.

Further demonstrating Ulquiorano's genius (or perhaps rather his eccentricity), every floor in both towers was filled with hidden passageways that allowed the Guild's servants and janitorial staff to go about their duties of keeping the towers clean without disturbing the students, or vice versa. These passages led out into most every room or hallway (except for the top four floors of the greater tower, where the passages only let out into the hallway), and all of the passages in each tower were connected to a shaft spanning every floor, with a long spiral staircase leading down into the basement. In theory, the entire passage network was known only to staff members, but of course many students over the years had discovered them, and used them to sneak extra food from the kitchens, skip class, or to get into the student library when they weren't supposed to. Student use of the tunnels also had much to do with the reason why female students occasionally got pregnant despite the fact that members of the opposite sex are not allowed in each others rooms and the dormitory halls were heavily patrolled at night.

Unfortunately, the hidden passages were also on rare occasion exploited by former students as well.

Dameon Black's plan was simple (or so he claimed): First, the numerous bandits and mercenaries hired out for the attack would spend the first two days of the convention sneaking into the city and either kidnapping or killing the city guards, then take the guards' places so as to prevent suspicion. This part had been executed flawlessly, as every one of Magnum's soldiers was now either dead or locked up in their own jail cells. Phase two called for Black and Hercule to break into the basement (how this was done was anyone's guess) and let loose a poisonous fog into the Guild to wipe out most of the people inside. Half of the gas would be let out through the waste drain to signal that this second part of the plan had been a success, and that the bandits were to make their attack. Clearly, this too had gone off without a hitch.

The third and final phase was that the bandit army (wearing specially made gas masks) was to be let in through the waste drain (again, how, they weren't sure), and then break off into two groups. The first group would make their way up the lesser tower to wipe out all survivors, while the second group, led by Hercule, would take the servant passages directly to the eighth floor, cross the bridge, and secure the greater tower. Once everyone inside was dead, the bandits and mercenaries would be free to pillage and plunder to their heart's content, and then go home, so long as Black got first pick of the exhibit hall and the entirety of the two libraries.

When he had first heard the plan two nights ago at the Lusty Maiden, Zolf had immediately decided that this plan was too complex to work; and now that he was here and fully aware of how many people had been hired for it he was even more worried due to the fact that Black expected there to be so many survivors that this much man-power was required. To him, it was inevitable that things were going to go horribly wrong. However, it didn't really matter much to Zolf whether or not the plan worked, so long as he got that statue for Master Zelgadis.

"Alright you dirty bums!" the Chief yelled cheerfully at the Dragon Fangs, "We've gotten the signal, now lets go!"

The gathered bandit hoard cheered gleefully as each group received similar commands from their leaders. Then they charged as one (more or less) towards the Magnum Sorcerer's Guild, confident of assured success.

Zolf ran alongside, grinning eagerly at the prospect of at last completing his mission. Despite this, however, he couldn't shake the feeling that by the time he was done with the Dragon Fangs, things were going to go very badly for him.

**To Be Continued…**


	6. Chapter 6: The Battle Begins

**Author's Note: **Yay! My new computer is here! Now I can finally get back to bringing you chapters! Sorry if the quality of this one isn't as good as the others. Its been a while since I've been able to type, so I'm feeling a little off. Reviews are always nice. Hint, hint.

**Disclaimer: **Slayers is not mine. It belongs to Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Arazumi.

L-Sama- Yay! You're back! *bam!*

Me- Ow, is that how you treat me after being gone so long?

L-Sama- Its how I show my appreciation.

Me- Could you do me a favor, and appreciate me less?

L-Sama- No can do. SHOVEL ATTACK!

Me- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

**Chapter 6: The Battle Begins**

"Diem Wind!" Ralse, Linda, and many others shouted, blasting back the approaching toxic fog with a small hurricane.

With the gas pushed back for a short time, Ralse Kalvos and several others- including an indigo-haired girl in violet priestess robes- rushed to the aid of those who had already succumbed to the poison. All but one were still alive and were quickly healed with the powerful white magic held by the rescue group. The one who was already dead, a young man who showed signs of having succumbed due to a violent allergic reaction, was moved to the side, and his body was respectfully covered over with his cloak.

"Such a terrible loss," Ralse said sadly, shaking his head in dismay at the loss of such a young life. The young man had been no older than Lina, and this he found greatly disturbing.

"Come on, teach! There's no time for that!" shouted Lina.

"Yes, of course," Ralse replied, shaking himself out of his sadness. The living were the ones in need right now.

"You!" the middle-aged sorcerer demanded, pointing at the purple haired man, who, surprisingly, was still tailing him and his apprentice. "Are you and your master behind this in any way?"

The mysterious man glanced up over the top of the paper that he was now reading and gave a sad sounding, "No."

"Then help us!"

"Why?" the stranger asked with an amused chuckle.

"'Cause if you don't, I'll lob a fireball up your butt and laugh my head off when yours splatters all over the wall!" Lina declared, suddenly coming up from behind and putting the purple haired man into a vicious headlock.

"Gaah! Uncle! Uncle! Alright, alright!" the man screamed, though few besides Ralse caught the amused look on his face.

"Alrighty then, you go on ahead," the smiling stranger said once Lina had released him, "And I'll take care of the poison gas."

Ralse nodded once, then shouted, "Alright everyone, follow me!"

With another blast of Diem Wind to dispel the gas, the convention goers made their way out into the rotunda, where they split up into two groups so as to gather the other people of the convention up from both sides of the hallway. As they began their semi-organized retreat, few noticed that the poison was leaking out through a hidden door in one of the walls that had been left open; and none noticed that the purple haired stranger had vanished.

Meanwhile, in one of the guild's lowest sub-basements, said stranger suddenly materialized out of thin air, levitating over several extra-large cauldrons which spewed out a sickly, yellow colored fog.

"Hmm, so that's the source of the poison," Xellos mused to himself, "An interesting idea, if not very original. Hmm, now I could just leave now and enjoy the chaos doing so will cause, but I'm sure I could find a way to get even more enjoyment if I take this stuff and dump it someplace else. Besides..."

The mazoku priest's violet eyes opened as he stared up at the ceiling, as if he could see the fleeing sorcerers up above. "Lord Beastmaster was right, Miss Inverse is a rather amusing human. It might be to our advantage to increase the odds of her survival for now. She may very well be of use to our kind someday."

With that, the trickster priest reached down and touched one of the cauldrons with his staff, then vanished back into the Astral Plane, taking all of the poison-spewing pots with him.

Back up top, the convention goers were slowly making progress towards the top of the tower. Their numbers were now nearly tripled from when they had started out in the cafeteria, and their numbers continued to swell once they got to the student library on the third floor. Upon hitting the fourth floor they tried to turn onto the bridge to go to the greater tower, but Ralse stopped them and continued to lead them up.

"Where are you going?" asked one of the cheerleader sorceresses, "Why can't we take the bridge?"

"Two reasons," Kalvos replied as they ran, "One of course is to make sure that everyone in the guild is gathered with us so as to minimize casualties when we the attack comes. The second is because whoever is doing this is trying to herd us somewhere where they can more easily attack us, and the lowest bridge would be an excellent place to do so."

"What do you mean, Master Kalvos?" asked one of the guild professors.

"Don't you see?" explained Lina, "If these guys are able to break the guild's magical defenses so as to release poison gas on us, then who knows what else they're capable of doing? And the lower bridge would be an ideal place to finish us all off at once. All they would have to do is put up a spell to keep us from flying away around the bridge, enchant the gates so that we can go out but not back inside, then drop the upper bridge on top of us."

"Precisely."

All argument on this point instantly ceased.

"H-how horrible," the indigo haired girl sniffed, suddenly finding herself running beside Lina. "I wish that Gourry-dear was here. He'd be able to stop this."

"Who's Gourry?" asked Lina, wracking her brains for any memory of a sorcerer by that name.

"He's a swordsman," the girl replied, her eyes lighting up fanatically, "He's so strong, and cool, and brave, and awesome and... and he'd know just what to do! He'd save us for sure!"

"Heh, sure," the red head laughed, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I doubt a swordsman would be of much use here."

_'Heh, besides,'_ she mentally added, _'This Gourry sounds like one of those dorks that people fuss over, but turn out to really be forget-your-own-friend's-name stupid. No way you'll ever catch ME worrying over guys like that.'_

On and on they ran. Now that they were on the upper floors, there were very few convention goers to add to their ranks. However, teachers could still be occasionally found in the midst of planning their lessons for when classes resumed the following week. These people also quickly joined the fight. Upon reaching the eighth floor, however, the whole group stopped dead in their tracks.

The broken bodies of several teachers and students were strewn all over the floor, their bodies hacked to pieces and trampled over by many feet. The evidence of their short final battle lay scarred all over the floors, walls, and ceilings; and even the charred remains of the few attacks they had been able to kill could be found.

"Wh-what happened here?" stammered another of the teenage sorceresses.

"Looks like I was right," Ralse said grimly, "They're already up here. But how could they have...?"

"The servant's passageways," one of the teachers answered, "They're spread all throughout the guild, and they lead to almost every room. That's how they got here ahead of us. But how they knew about them I don't..."

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" Lina interjected, her voice strained with rage and sadness. "What does matter is that they're probably just ahead of us. Now lets get down their so we blast their asses back to Shabranigdo!"

Ralse nodded. "She's right. Now let's show these invaders who they're dealing with!"

This was met with a great cheer.

The group continued on at a swifter pace, now determined to find the ones responsible for the murder of their brethren. At last they found them upon the bridge: a large group of bandits and mercenaries.

Apparently someone had survived the previous slaughter, because the door to the greater tower was sealed shut, and there were shots being fired down from the tower's upper windows. Most of the bandits ignored this fire, as they were being protected by their own magicians. Instead, they were focusing all of their effort on breaking down the enchanted door, using a rune-covered piece of petrified wood stolen from a classroom as a battering ram.

"Prepare yourself, oh bandits!" Ralse shouted out dramatically. Many of the group behind him looked on in awe at the famed sorcerer's awesomeness. Lina however merely grinned and rolled her eyes, knowing how well her teacher enjoyed being dramatic.

"You have spilled innocent blood this day, and now you shall face judgment!"

The bandits whipped around to see who they had missed, only for their eyes to bug out ludicrously upon at the sight of the majority of the guild members and convention attendees were assembled against them.

"Hey! What's going on!?" a voice yelled in confusion from down below, "Where did they all go!?"

Both the bandits and the angry wizards looked down over the edge of the bridge. Everyone who did so felt their eyes nearly pop out upon seeing another large bandit force gathered on the fourth floor bridge.

"Dammit, we couldn't have missed them!" one man with a brown hat and cloak complained.

"But surely they're not so stupid that they stayed downstairs to get gassed to death," another bandit replied.

"HEY! MORONS!!" a huge bandit with an equally large sword who was with those gathered on the upper bridge bellowed down to the others, "How in Hellmaster's name did you miss them!?"

"Whaddya mean, boss?"

"Whaddya mean 'What do I mean?' They're all up here!!"

The bandits on the lower bridge all jumped upon finally noticing all of the extra faces looking down at them. With a great amount of embaressed swearing, they turned back and returned to the lesser tower.

"Alright everyone," Ralse called to his people as he drew his sword. "Go back and take care of those who are coming up behind us. However, be sure not to go too far, or they'll outflank you with those tunnels."

"But what about you?" the indigo haired girl asked.

"My apprentice and I will take care of things up here."

"But Master Kalvos..." someone else objected.

"Go! We'll be fine," he interrupted, flashing a reassuring smile.

Reluctantly, the assembled spellcasters turned back to begin their battle.

"Ready, Lina?" Kalvos asked, turning to his diminutive apprentice.

"Of course," she nodded.

Suddenly flipping his blade over and stabbing it in between the bridge's flagstones, Ralse took aim and shouted the power words along with his young ward.

"FLARE ARROW!" they shouted, sending twin missiles of flame into the herd of charging outlaws.

The criminals flinched and stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of the incoming projectiles, but their fears were unfounded. A hastily thrown-up windy shield managed to stop the twin attacks.

"Hmm, shall we try something a bit bigger then?"

"Why are bothering to ask?"

"GAAV FLARE!!" the two spellcasters declared, summoning the power of the Mazoku Lord Chaos Dragon Gaav. Twin spheres of black and crimson energy one and a half feet in diameter each were flung forward, blowing nearly all of bandits and their defenses away with a mighty explosion. The bridge's waist-high walls funneled the blast of the double black magic spell, causing those who weren't flung off of the bridge completely to instead be thrown back against the wall of the greater tower.

When the smoke cleared, the only ones left standing were Lina and Ralse on one side, and the huge man with the sword- although several of the tougher bandits were already beginning to regain consciousness.

"Hmph, not bad," the huge man grunted, hefting his drawn sword up to rest on his shoulder. The huge blade was glowing with a strange magenta hue. "However, don't think that you stand a chance against me. This sword is an ancient artifact from the Shinma War: The war in which the gods and the demons first clashed, and where Lord Shabranigdo was sealed away by the dragon god Ceipheed. It can absorb all attack spells, and allows me to fling them back at you. Like so!" With that the huge man swung his sword and fired a miniature Gaav Flare right back at Lina and Ralse.

"I got it!" Lina yelled as she jumped forward, "Balus Wall!"

the spell struck the petite sorceress' fire-repelling shield, then broke through.

Ralse gasped in fear and nearly cried out, but before he could do so his apprentice had blown back the smoke with a burst of wind. Though her robes were now torn and scorched, Lina herself had received only minor burns.

"Owch," Lina laughed, "I guess I should have put a little more power into that barrier."

"I keep telling you not to underestimate opponents that don't go down after the first shot," Ralse scolded angrily.

"Not bad girl!" the big man complimented, "I salute your skill. And as a token of my respect, I shall reveal to you the name of the one who shall kill you: I am the mercenary swordsman Hercule von Jauger, also called Hercule the Executioner, or Witch Blade Jaeger!"

Lina rolled her eyes as she gave a scoffing laugh. She couldn't help it, the guy was just too full of himself.

"And who is it that I shall be killing this day?" the mercenary asked with a slight, mocking bow,

Lina looked towards her mentor, who gave a deep sigh and then nodded.

Instantly, and with great enthusiasm, Lina flung open her traveling bag (which she had been carrying around with her for the whole convention for just such a situation), and tore away her disguise with gusto. Pulling her effects out of her bag, she attached her gloves, headband, sword, and finally her cape and shoulder pads with a flourish.

"I," she declared with a heroic pose and her cape flapping in the wind, "Am the beautiful sorcery genius: Lina Inverse!"

**To Be Continued...**


	7. Chapter 7: Magnum Guild Bridge is

**Author's Note: **Alright, almost done! Thanks to everyone who has been reading. I could not have done this without your support.

**Review Replies: **This is my new segment for when people bring up stuff in their replies who's answers I think might be interesting for other people to hear.

**Leafwhistler: **" Lol- It's fun to see Lina in her early phases of perfecting her dramatic enterances. Though I hadn't guessed that Ralse would be a justice preacher. Lol- very well done. Can't wait to find out what happens next. May the badits be cooked extra crispy!"

**Me: **Yeah, its funny how she mocks others for being arrogant, but she's just as bad, lol. As for Ralse being a justice preacher, well, no, not really. Its his own brand of humor, somewhat like how Milgasia is always doing these deadpan jokes about how something terrible is about to happen then giving a straight-faced "Just kidding" after everyone freaks out. Although Ralse does have a strong sense of justice, he isn't an unbending fanatic who tries to shove it down everyone's throat like Phil and Amelia. Its just something he does to look funny and amuse himself.

**Chapter 7: Magnum Guild Bridge is Falling Down...**

Lina continued her pose. Hercule looked on impressed. Ralse groaned- though with a smile- at his student's hypocritical posing. The remains of the bandit army panicked.

"Lina INVERSE!?" one of the criminal exclaimed.

"ITS LINA INVERSE!!!" another one screamed.

"Smash down dis here door and run for your lives boys!!" commanded the boss of the Dragon Fangs.

Immediately, all of the surviving bandits jumped to their feet, grabbed a hold of their battering ram as if it didn't weigh anything at all, and hammered at the gates furiously. Within moments the gate shattered, and the bandits fled inside.

"Spineless cowards!" Hercule hollered back after his fleeing subordinates, "Weaklings! I'll tear you all apart with my own hands when this fight is done!"

"Heh-heh, I guess the instinct of self-preservation really is the best motivator," Ralse chuckled.

"Shut up," growled Lina.

"I think I'll do one better than that," the older sorcerer replied as he stared up into the sky, "I'll just go away...And swat that big bug up there."

Confused, Lina looked about until she at last found the cloaked figure that was levitating some two dozen feet above the bridge.

"Hey! No fair!" Lina whined, "I wanna take out the ring leader!"

"Nope, too late," Ralse grinned as he tugged his sword out from where he had left it and took to the air. "You already called the big guy, so that's who you get to fight. Good luck!"

"Damn it!" Lina cursed.

"Don't be too upset, kid," sneered Hercule, "I'm no lightweight. We'll have plenty of fun together, rest assured."

"Yeah, whatever," the red head answered with a bored-sounding sigh.

Snorting angrily at his opponent's nonchalance, Hercule roared, "Don't underestimate me! Let me show you just how strong I really am!"

With amazing speed, Hercule launched himself at his foe, he body seeming to not be slowed at all by the weight of his massive weapon.

Lina barely had enough time to jump back out of the way; however, the shockwave sent out through the ground by the force of the blow forced her to retreat several paces as she tried to keep herself from falling.

"You see?" Hercule grinned, "I told you that I was no lightweight."

"No kidding," the sorceress replied as she levitated several feet into the air. "Then in that case I'll use...FIREBALL!"

Hercule lazily held up his sword to block.

"Break!" shouted Lina suddenly with a snap of her fingers. Instantly, her fireball split apart into a dozen smaller flames which flew in from every direction. An explosion roared and sent a hot wind out in every direction. Though an impressive display, Lina knew that this attack would only inflict minimal damage, which is why it was just a front for her true attack.

Switching to the faster Raywing spell, the sorceress drew her short sword and flew around and towards the giant swordsman as fast as she could, hoping to land the finishing blow. Unfortunately, her enemy was more experienced than she had first realized, and her attack was foiled by a last second spin attack. With a loud _clang_, Hercule's massive weapon struck against Lina's much smaller one, followed soon afterwards by a metallic _snap_ and a flash of scarlet.

When the stars stopped flashing before her eyes, Lina found herself lying against the wall of the greater tower, her whole body completely numb. It was a brief numbness, however, and all too soon red-hot pain ripped through her tiny body. The taste of blood filled her mouth as she bit down to keep from crying out. When she could trust herself to move again, the scarlet sorceress looked down to see that her bright yellow sweater was drenched with blood. Her blood. Though the high-quality steel of her short sword and the protective spells placed on her pauldrons had saved her arm, they had not been enough to keep her from sustaining a serious injury. A moment later she was hit by a barrage of her own mini-fireballs.

"Hmm, that was quite an impressive trick," Hercule complimented as he approached his fallen opponent, his face twisted in an arrogant smirk. "I've never seen anyone do that with a fireball before."

"Its my own invention," a still-smoking Lina grinned through gritted teeth, "I'm glad that you liked it."

Though the giant mercenary did not know it, he had incurred the wrath of the Dragon Spooker; and was thus now living on borrowed time. It was all that the petite spellcaster could do to keep from screaming at the top of her lungs; for not only had her short sword (which had been a rather expensive parting gift from Luna) been snapped in half, but she now also had burn holes and ash stains all over her clothes, a huge gash in one of her shoulder guards, and her favorite sweater irreparably stained with blood. In short, her awesome sorceress outfit was ruined! There was now no going back! The gorilla must die!

"MEGA BRAND!!"

The huge swordsman gave a surprised yell as the ground underneath of him was suddenly blown apart, sending him many feet backwards.

Though her injuries hurt like hell, the young woman named Lina couldn't help but give a genuine smile. She had, after-all, just found a weakness.

"Dam Brass!" she commanded, hurling a red energy orb into the ground right in front of Hercule with her one good arm. Though the guild's reinforcement spells were strong enough to prevent a hole from being created in the bridge, the spell was still strong enough to send a painful hail of stone splinter up into the mercenary's face, distracting him long enough for Lina to place her left hand on the petrified tree-turned-battering ram and voice her next spell. "Vu Vraimer!"

Excess stone was blown away as once-living stone took on the shape of a centipede with the upper torso of a buff human. Without hesitation, the bizarre construct moved in on Hercule, pounding away with its huge fists. Unable to hold up against the golem's powerful blows, the mercenary took several mighty leaps backwards, then gave a single mighty leap forward, preparing to cleave the statue in two with a single strike.

Lina smiled and raised her hand. It was exactly what she had wanted to happen. As soon as Mr. Big-n-Bald got close enough, she would cast Dug Haut from out of her golem, impaling him and ending the fight. But just as the power began to gather within her, an enormous wave of fatigue washed the sorceress and caused her to fall forward onto her knees. Once there, she noticed that a rather unhealthy amount of blood had begun to pool around her useless right arm.

"Damn," she swore as she listened to her golem explode into tiny pebbles. She cupped the still-profusely bleeding shoulder wound and began to chant a Recovery spell. She cursed her foolishness and overconfidence, while at the same time she prayed that she would still have enough power left.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dameon Black flew backwards and crashed into the greater tower's roof, the Curse Breaker charm around his neck allowing him to smash through the brittle shingles rather than bouncing off of the tower's enchantments. The defeated sorcerer slumped down amongst the broken slate with bowed head.

"You know," said Ralse Kalvos as he hovered before his defeated foe, "This would be funny if it weren't so sad. Six months and you haven't improved at all. How do you expect to take over the world while being so lazy?"

Dameon's only reply was to glare murderously at the older magician.

"Anyway" continued Kalvos as he flew in closer, "I know that that isn't yours, and I can only guess what damage you've done with it already, so I think I'll relieve you of your jewelry."

With that, Ralse reached down and snapped the string of the square amulet around the young ma's neck with a single yank, then placed it into a pouch on his belt.

As he returned his sword to his sheath, the middle-aged sorcerer gave a weary sigh and said, "Why do you continue to pursue this ridiculous goal of taking over the world, nephew?"

"So that everyone will respect me!" Black spat, "So that they'll HAVE to respect me!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? Respect must be earned! You must exceed the power that you were born with, then use that power for the betterment of mankind. Becoming a despot only makes you feared..."

"Same difference."

"For the thousandth time, no it is NOT!" Kalvos snapped irritably. Then sadly he said, "Where did your parents- my sister and her husband- and I go wrong with you?"

"None of you ever understood me," Dameon answered stubbornly, "None of you knew how to handle raising a genius like myself who was destined for world dominion!"

Ralse sighed in defeat, then looked down to observe the battle below. After less than a moment of this he said, "Well, you've had plenty of chances to change your ways. I should probably turn you in now; after all, many good sorcerers are dead now because of you. However, you'll just resist arrest, and I don't have time to go chasing you all around Magnum. My apprentice needs my help, so I guess I have no choice but to let you go for now."

"Take your time," Black taunted as he began extricating himself from the wreckage of the roof.

"Just do me one thing, Dameon," Ralse said, turning to look his nephew in the eye one last time.

The dark haired youth involuntarily flinched and turned away from the eye contact.

"Stay away from Lina," Ralse continued sadly, "She's still healing, both from what she thinks you did, and what you really did do to her. You are the absolute last thing that should ever come back into her life- whether she ever forgives you or not- and I can't guarantee that you'll walk away from the encounter if you ever do meet up again. Farewell."

And with that, Ralse Kalvos turned back, drew his sword once more and sped down towards his apprentice- his (faux)daughter- and her opponent.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Its been a good fight, kid," Hercule chuckled as he stuck his sword into the ground and withdrew a solid steel ball attached to a length of chain from his hip pouch, "You're pretty strong. It would probably be wise of me to finish you off without getting too close. Who knows what you might pull." With that he began to swing the over-large meteor hammer, intending to crush her skull with one shot.

"D-dill Brand!" Lina called out weakly, raising her partially-healed arm slightly. Despite Hercule's size, the huge mercenary possessed a surprising amount of finesse even when wielding that enormous sword of his; thus, Lina's shoulder wound had been quite easy to close. Even so, it was still taking the red-haired sorceress everything she had to keep going.

The giant man jumped forward as the light of the explosion array circled him. As the blast pushed him forward, he rolled and then threw his weapon as soon as he came back up.

The Bandit Killer fired off a flare arrow as she attempted to dodge. The burning projectiles missed the steel ball and instead melted through the chain. With plenty of momentum still behind it, the hammer continued on until it met the girl's already injured shoulder.

Lina cried out in pain as her shoulder guard cratered in from the impact. Blood poured out from the reopened wound. The dislocation of her shoulder joints caused her whole arm to feel is if it were on fire.

Hercule just laughed as he retrieved his sword and cautiously made his way towards his enemy.

"You have been a worthy opponent, Lina Inverse," the big man said, "A much better foe than I have had in a long time. Unfortunately, it is now time for you to die."

All of a sudden, Ralse shot down out of the sky and delivered a double-footed kick to the mercenary's head. As the kick's recoil pushed him back, the sorcerer flipped over in mid-air and swung his hand-and-a-half sword. Hercule's own blade was raised in time to parry the stroke, yet Kalvos continued to grin as he hung upside down.

"Bomb Di Wind!" he commanded.

An explosion of wind blasted Hercule in the gut and sent him all the way back down to the other side of the bridge.

"Need help?" asked Ralse as he returned to his feet and sheathed his weapon.

"Not really," Lina replied stubbornly as she pulled herself to her feet. "I got it covered."

Tearing off her destroyed shoulder guard and throwing it to the side (and off the bridge), Lina then suddenly flung herself and her dislocated (and badly bleeding) arm into the wall behind her. The joint gave a loud _crack_ as it was forced back into place, while Lina muttered stream of angry obscenities in several languages through clenched teeth.

"No kidding," Ralse answered with grinning sarcasm. Upon seeing the badly bleeding wound in her arm, the older man immediately began to prepare Resurrection.

Already in a foul mood, Lina simply made an obscene hand gesture.

"I want to try something real quick," Kalvos said as he laid his now-glowing hands upon Lina's wound. "But if things don't look like they're going according to plan, then feel free to jump in at any time."

Lina nodded, grateful for her teacher's wide variety of skills.

"You'll pay for that one, sorcerer!" Hercule growled as he began to make his way swiftly down the bridge.

"Save it for Shabranigdo," Ralse answered, turning away from the now-restored Lina and making his way towards his new opponent. He began to gather his power together as he chanted:

"Darkness beyond twilight,

Crimson beyond blood that flows,

Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows.

I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand,

Before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hands.

Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed,

By the power you and I possess:

DRAGON SLAVE!!"

With a mighty bang, a pillar of burning, crimson energy was fired forth from Ralse's hands. Hercule braced himself and raised his weapon to intercept. The destructive power soon engulfed the big man, but was soon swallowed up by the monstrous sword.

The mercenary breathed heavily, for Witch Blade few upon one's stamina to absorb spells, and never before had he tried to suck in such a powerful spell. But upon seeing enormous power that was now stored within his sword- so much so that some of the power actually spilled out and gave the weapon the appearance of having a blade made of fire- Hercule's exhaustion instantly melted away and was replaced by the thrill of victory.

However, Ralse had expected this to happen, and had already begun to chant his next spell. It was one that he had invented several months ago for the purpose of Lina's training, and drew its power from positive emotions- as did all other White Magic spells. Though he suspected that it would be much more powerful if applied as a Holy Spell, the sorcerer knew it would serve its present purpose just fine.

"Blessed power,

Lordly strength,

Drive back the Dark Lord's power,

And form for me a barrier:..."

Hercule swung his Witch Blade, unleashing the terrible power of the captured Dragon Slave.

"Reverse Dragon Slave!"

A rotating, two dimensional spiral of scarlet energy was formed before Ralse's outstretched arms. The two spells collided, filling the air with a dreadful roar, like that of two brawling dragons. One tension filled moment later, the Dragon Slave ricocheted off of the barrier and flew back towards Hercule.

Then things started to get a little crazy.

Rather than bypassing the Witch Blade's enchantment as Ralse had suspected would happen, the Dragon Slave was merely sucked back into the sword and was immediately fired back out, bounced off of the Reverse Dragon Slave, and then back into the Witch Blade, creating a continuous circuit. Another unexpected factor that was suddenly thrown into the equation was that the cycling energy began to absorb all loose magical energy in the area. Soon a highly unstable bomb of volatile power was formed, circling around and around the opponents continuously.

"This was unexpected," Ralse commented with a mask of surprised calm.

Hercule, a veteran mercenary with decades of experience, wasn't nearly as successful in hiding his fear. Over the years, the big man had seen horrible things done to the human body, whether by blade, or spell, or projectile, or disease, or dragon breath. Yet he had never seen such vast quantities of power running wild like this, and it terrified him.

Kalvos, on the other hand, had seen things like this happen once or twice before, and so had a pretty good theory of what might happen: The energy would continue to build up until it reached until a level of power until either Hercule or himself ran out of stamina- until the energy simply overpowered either the Witch Blade or his barrier- at which point it would explode, vaporize the bridge, kill everyone on it, and cause major damage to both towers- and possibly cause more casualties. However, if someone one end broke the circuit before the energy reached such critical levels, then it was likely that just that person would die.

"Its the world's most powerful game of Hot Potato," Ralse commented aloud through clenched teeth.

"...Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed,

By the power you and I possess:

DRAGON SLAVE!!!"

Firing from ten feet above and three feet behind Ralse, Lina sent her own Dragon Slave right at Hercule. The mercenary had only a moment to yell before being engulfed by the annihilating energy. With the circuit broken Kalvos' many-times reflected spell made one last round and collided with Lina's.

Rocketing away on a pair of Raywings, the two sorcerers pushed themselves as hard as they could to escape the enormous explosion. Windows shattered and stone was scorched. Flammable things all throughout the guild suddenly burst into flames. Master and apprentice were both flung wildly through the air by the shockwave.

"You could have tried something a little less dramatic to take him out," Kalvos growled once Lina and himself had regained control of their position in the sky.

"Yeah, but too much is better than not enough, right?"

"Not in this case."

"Well, it wouldn't have been right for my idiom!" Lina stubbornly defended herself.

With a deep sigh, Ralse put his hand head into his hand while continuing to stare down at the now bridgeless gap between the two towers of the Sorcerer's Guild.

"What am I going to do with you?"

**To Be Continued...**

**Second Author's Note: **Bet ya didn't see that coming. Well, maybe you might have if you remembered that one part in the second-to-last chapter of **Reconcile**:

"Dameon had never felt fear like this before. As he watched Lina chant the words, and felt her power level spike, his heart began to quicken, and ice-cold sweat ran down his face and arms. His sharp breathing changed from that of an exhausted man to that of one who is faced with complete annihilation.

He knew what the spell was capable of. Only about a dozen or so people in the whole world had the bucket capacity to use it. Although Dameon himself could not use it (though barely), **his uncle** could; and he had once watched in awe as his mother's brother had wiped out a swarm of brass demons with it. Dameon had also been scared witless when he had first seen how easily, and how frivolously Lina used it. He had even been unintentionally been caught in the blast of one more than a few times. However, he had never before been in a situation where he had been blasted with one without any power left, and he had never before actually had one shot _at_ him."

Yep, I was talking about Ralse there.

Until next time!


	8. Chapter 8: The Great Escape

**Author's Note: **Alright, second to last chapter. You know, I originally never intended for Xellos to show up in this one or in Reconile, and yet there always seems to be an excuse to let him in. Heh, I guess my stories are starting to get life's of their own. Anyway, enjoy this latest sampling.

**Slayers Learn**

**Chapter 8: The Great Escape**

"What the hell was that!?" Eyepatch yelled once the tower had ceased its shaking.

"Dat, boys," the Boss answered solemnly, "Was probably Mr. Black and his muscle man gettin' blown ta ashes by Lina Inverse."

The Dragonfangs and the remnants of the bandit army had barricaded themselves into some sort of fancy waiting room after being chased throughout the greater tower by a band of angry sorcerers. After a terrifying chase in which the walls had literally exploded around them, the bandits had finally escaped the mob by doubling back through one of the servant tunnels and going all the way to the top floor. Though their pursuers had yet to discover them, the question of how long that would last was something which weighed heavily on everyone's mind.

"I-is Lina Inverse really that dangerous?" one of the younger bandits asked.

"Oh, the stories dat I could tell ya!" the Boss replied enthusiastically. "Dey say dat she was once the child of a war god and a demoness, but was murdered by a bandit king. So she reincarnated herself as a human bein' in order to wreak terrible vengeance upon all bandits, and living things in general."

"You're making that up!" another gang member accused.

"No, I'm not! I learned it from a very reliable source! Anyway, I've also heard dat she devours da souls of those she kills, dat she eats human bones for breakfast, dat she scares dragons away just by announcin' her name..."

"I've heard that one before."

"Aye, me too."

"...Dat she annihilates entire villages for the smallest offense, dat she'll kill ya just by lookin' at her wrong, dat..."

"Oh, my, my! What utter nonsense!"

The gathered bandits jumped back and screamed at the purple haired man who had suddenly appeared in their midst.

"W-w-who are you!?" Eyepatch yelled, "Who did you get in here!?"

"Me?" the stranger asked politely, "Why, I am Xellos, the Mysterious Priest!"

"But how'd you get in here?"

"Well," the priest answered with a taunting wag of his index finger, "That is a secret!"

"But den why are you here?" the Boss demanded.

"Hmmm," the purple haired man called Xellos said as he pretended to think, "Well, I could be here for any number of reasons. For instance, I could be here to find something. I could be here because I'm lost. Or perhaps..."

The stranger opened one eye slightly. His violet eye shone with a dangerous glint.

"...Or I could be here to kill bandits."

The Dragon Fangs began sweating profusely at this pronouncement.

"Are you...bandits?" Xellos asked with a tension building pause in the midst of his sentence. His voice was low and sinister, causing the bandits to squirm with barely suppressed terror.

"N-n-n-n-no! NO! NO!" the Boss lied, "W-w-w-we're just, um, uh, guards! Yeah! We're guards dat da Sorcerer's Guild hired to watch a certain room during dis here convention! Isn't dat right boys?"

The assembled criminals nodded vigorously, expecting to get blown to pieces at any second.

Then to everyone's great surprised, the priest called Xellos simply shrugged his shoulders with a benign expression and gave a relaxed, "Okay."

The Dragon Fangs let out a collective sigh of relief.

"So, then," began Xellos as he approached the second door. This door was opposite from the one that the Dragon Fangs had entered in from, but was magically sealed. Zolf had been attempting to undo the spell that was protecting the door until Xellos had showed up.

"Is this the room that you were supposed to be guarding?"

"Yea-yeah, dat's right," the Boss nodded weakly, "Except da Guild Master forgot to open the door for us to get inside, so..."

"Oh, that's easy!" Xellos laughed as he put a hand upon the door. "Why didn't you say so before?"

A black and violet wave spread out from the priest's hand to all over the door. The defeated protection spell briefly manifested itself as a wall of glass, then shattered in a miniature explosion. The now harmless shards which now littered the floor then evaporated into nothingness.

"Come in, come in, gentlemen!" the grinning priest invited as he opened the door easily.

The escape-eager bandits rushed inside, but as they did so, all thought of escape vanished from their minds instantly. The room was the exhibition hall, and it was filled with all sorts of rarities and treasures. Glass cases on finely carved mahogany pedestals were scattered around the room at regular intervals, and within each one was some magical device from ages past. Necklaces, rings, bracelets, amulets, weapons, armor, gems, and countless other pieces stood before them, as beautiful and inviting as an all-you-can-eat buffet would be to a certain red haired sorceress.

In their greed, the Dragon Fangs forgot not only about escape, but about the mysterious spellcaster who they had just met as well. Burlap sacks were pulled out from pockets as the robbers smashed open the cases and began grabbing everything that was within reach.

Only one amongst the criminals did not begin to loot indiscriminately. Instead, Zolf stocked about the room and evaluated the contents of each case, as if he couldn't decide where to start at. In reality, though, he was searching for the item that his master Zelgadis had sent him to obtain: a statuette of praying maiden, made out of orihalcon.

Turning a corner on another row, Zolf nearly ran into Eyepatch, who had been scooping a handful of gems into his sack. As the mouth of the bag gaped open, the green haired sorcerer gasped as he saw his prize- the Orihalcon Statue- lying amongst the loot in Eyepatch's bag. Zolf tried to reach for it, but the Second-in-Command of the Dragon Fangs stopped him with a snarl.

"Whaddya think you're doing, Zolf? You know the rules: Everything goes into the communal pile and gets split up with everyone more-or-less equally. If you see something in particular you want, bring it up with the boss when we split everything!"

"Oh, come on. We both know that everyone takes a little extra."

"Yeah, well...well...well get your own treasure!"

With that, the Eyepatch Man stomped off.

Growling furiously, Zolf vented some of his anger by smashing the nearest case with his fist and pulling out whatever was inside.

"Ah, you have a most discerning eye, sir!" Xellos said suddenly, as if he were a merchant discussing merchandise with a customer.

Zolf jumped.

"That dagger you are holding," Xellos said, "It used to belong a most fearsome guild of assassins!"

"Oh? Really?" Zolf asked, now taking a better look at what he had uncovered. It had a curved blade, with an extra-long hilt which ended with a skull at the end. The scabbard was made of wood covered in tattered leather, with a small half-orb gem set into it.

"Indeed," the priest nodded, "In fact, the guild had several daggers like these, all of them enchanted to be extra sharp, and cursed to drive whoever pulled the knife from its sheath to homicidal madness!"

"A curse? Really?"

"Yes! They would send the daggers to their targets as a gift from a relative. Then either that person would draw the knife, kill one or more people, and then be hanged as a murderer; or someone else would draw the knife, go crazy, and kill the target. It was a most effective method, and they were never caught."

"What happened to them?"

"No one knows," the purple haired man shrugged with an ominous voice, "Legend has it that their base was located on an island controlled by a very powerful mazoku, and the mazoku allowed them to stay there in return for favors. However, the assassins grew bold, and eventually displeased the mazoku. So sh-, er- it sent a subordinate to wipe them all out. This dagger, and a few of the guild's records, are all that remain of them."

"Interesting," Zolf said as he examined the dagger with renewed interest. Then, suspiciously, he demanded, "And just how do you know all of this?"

"That...," the priest grinned, "Is a secret!"

Zolf growled in irritation. He hoped that his Master Zelgadis would be fortunate to never have to run into this person. This Xellos person seemed to greatly enjoy irritating people, and the Chimera would likely have an aneurism if he had to put up with him for too long.

Just then, the whole room seemed to shake as muffled explosion went off. Instantly, every one of the bandits froze in their tracks.

"Oh my." Xellos commented, "It seems that those angry sorcerers have found you. Good thing I took the liberty of setting up such a strong barrier, or else they'd already be upon us."

"W-what do we do!?" Eyepatch yelled.

"Fear not, bandit men! I just happen to know of a way to get all of you out of here!"

With that, Xellos led them all to a tall, gold and crystal, upright-standing hoop that had been set up at the far end of the exhibit hall.

"This is an experimental magical portal device," the violet-eyed priest explained, "It can teleport any amount of people to anywhere that they want to go. All you have to do is concentrate on a mental picture of your intended destination. It's not very good for most people, however, as it demands a constant stream of power beyond what most humans are capable of having. Luckily for you, though, I can energize this device for all of you easily!"

Then with a flourish, the priest placed his hand upon one of the portal's crystals. Almost immediately, the hoop became filled with a pulsing, orange energy. However, instead of rushing in one after another, many of the bandits stared at the portal device with suspicion.

Just then, another, louder explosion came from the hall.

"Hmm, that barrier won't hold up much longer," Xellos mused.

"Last one in is Lina Inverse's dinner!" the Boss yelled, and charged through the portal. Eyepatch followed him with a girlish wail, and all of the others followed soon after. The last one through was Zolf.

_'Oh, well,'_ the sorcerer thought to himself, _'It doesn't matter who has the statue right now. Rezo doesn't know where the statue is; and once I contact Master Zelgadis, he'll be there within the week. Heh-heh. Don't worry, Master Zelgadis. Your revenge will soon be here!'_

**To Be Continued...**


	9. Chapter 9: Go WestEpilogue

**Author's Note: **Whoo! Sorry for taking so long on this one everyone. Here is the last chapter of Slayer's Learn, plus its originally unintended prequel! I hope that you all enjoyed this story as much as I did writing it, and thanks for all of the reviews, constructive criticism, and favorites! Please read and review, and thanks once more for all of your support!

**Disclaimer: **You know I don't own any of this, I know I don't own any of this, so why do I even need to bother with this?

L-Sama- Because the running gag associated with it amuses me, and I will do nasty things to you if you don't do it.

Me- Umm, I'm scared now.

L-Sama- As you should be.

*POW!*

Me- Ugh, again with the shovel-induced concussions! Why are there so many of you L-Sama? One's scary enough. *faints*

L-Sama- Hehehe, I'm so evil!

**Chapter 9: **

**Go West, Young Woman!**

Lina made her way back towards the inn at which she and her master had been staying at, all the while doing her best to ignore the stares. Three days had passed since the battle, and she was now returning from the tailor's in a new, custom-made outfit. The general color scheme was dark pink, with pants and a long-sleeved tunic. Her attire also consisted of new shoulder guards, a new cloak with an upturned collar, new gloves, new boots, and even thin-bladed longsword. All that remained of her old outfit was her bandana and a few beads that she had been able to recover. However, the townspeople's stares were not for her costume- which was quite mild compared to what many adventurers were known to wear in public- but for Lina herself.

Many had been shocked to learn that Ralse Kalvos' apprentice was the notorious Lina Inverse. Most of her fellow sorcerers had quickly accepted her as one of their own, for many had also been subject to slander and enemies; and Lina's explosive victory against the fearsome Hercule (some _had_ heard of him before) had been enough to pardon her of many legitimate qualms against her. The non-magical folk of Magnus were a different matter entirely, however. Many of them were unwilling to simply let go of their long established assumptions and biases, and of course those who thrived on scandalous gossip were thriving upon the news that the Great Hero Sorcerer Kalvos was apprenticing the Enemy of All Who Lived.

Continuing to resist the urge to blast the civvies apart with a fireball, or even just scaring them with a few Burst Rondos, Lina pressed on until she at last arrived at her and her master's room.

"Where in the world did you get THAT!?" Lina exclaimed upon entering.

On the bed was laid Hercule's massive Witch Blade, which Ralse was now carefully embalming with strips of tough cloth.

"I found it this morning while I was helping to clear away the last of that dried puddle of stone that you left behind. I asked the Guild's Board of Directors if I could keep it, and they said yes."

"So what are you going to do with it?" Lina asked, ignoring the jibe about the bridge, "And what about that Charm Breaker that you got off the bandit leader?"

Ralse had been unable to provide any information concerning the bandit's leader "due to his features being concealed by a mask and hood, and he had refused to divulge any information about himself," as was the official story.

"The Charm Breaker belonged to an old friend of mine before being stolen, and so I am returning that to him," answered Ralse, "And as for this sword, it's a very interesting device, and I would like to study it, as well as keep it out of the hands of people like Hercule."

"Of course," the teenage sorceress replied with a playful role of her eyes.

"Lina? D you think that you're ready to complete your apprenticeship to me yet?" the older magician asked suddenly.

"What!? Are you trying to get rid of me or something?"

"No, of course not," Kalvos replied, "But just answer the question."

"Well...," Lina pondered as she leaned against the wall of their room, "I've probably learned about all I can at my current level, or all that I'm willing to learn at least..."

Ralse chuckled at this.

"...And I guess I've achieved my original goal of coming to you..."

"No, actually, you haven't," Ralse corrected. "You came to me trying to hide from your pain. Instead, your heart- the source of your pain- was healed. I don't cure the symptoms, I just cure what causes them. And for the record, your heart healed itself, I merely helped it along."

"Yeah, sure, sure," Lina said dismissively, much to Kalvos' chagrin. "This isn't a philosophy class."

"So, are you ready?"

"Yeah, of course," answered Lina, who was now starting to fidget for some reason, "It's just that, um, oh boy, how do I say this without making it sound weird?"

"You don't want to leave because you've grown rather attached to me?" suggested Ralse.

"Y-yes, er, no, I mean...," blushed Lina, not at all used to talking about such things, and afraid that her teacher would misinterpret her.

However, there was no danger of that.

"I understand completely Lina," Ralse Kalvos replied with a gentle smile, "Because I've grown quite attached to you as well. You're the closest thing that I've ever had to a daughter, and more and more lately I catch myself thinking of you as such rather than as my pupil."

Although she still continued to blush with embarrassment, it was not as bad as before.

Without warning, Ralse suddenly swooped in and embraced the red haired girl. Stunned, Lina simply stood there as her face began to surpass her hair in brightness.

"However, every father must someday see his children leave the nest," Ralse said with a hint of tears, "And once you flew proud and free, but then you came to me with broken wings. Now you are once again whole, and stronger than ever. Now it is time for you to leave, to fly proud and free once more."

Then with that, Ralse released her and stepped away.

"That was...unexpected."

"Should I have warned you beforehand, then?" teased Ralse.

"No, because if you had, I probably would have broken your arms."

This simply caused Ralse to laugh all the more.

"So, that's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"'Spread your wings and fly little bird!' That it, Mr. Drama?" Lina demanded, "No final test? No great coming of age trial?"

"Yes, you've got me pegged," the sorcerer admitted with a laugh, "And don't worry, I wasn't going to let you get off that easily anyway. Okay, here's your test: The reconstruction efforts should be mostly complete within the week, then I'm going straight back home to Atlas City. You are to meet me there twenty-five days from now, and tell me of all of your adventures between now and then. Then, and only then, will I decide whether or not you are worthy to graduate from your apprenticeship to me!"

The declaration of the task had been said with an over-the-top serious face, and with a voice like that of an old, bad tempered martial arts master.

Lina couldn't help but laugh.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Lina stood before Magnum's newly opened gates, with a pack with three day's worth of provisions slung over her shoulder. She had decided during the night that she would start her "trial" by hunting down the bandits who had escaped Greater Tower (how they had managed to do such a thing was a mystery to all), punish them, and bring back (most) of what they had stolen from the Guild. Admittedly, she also hoped that they- wherever they were- had begun to sell off their loot by now, so that she wouldn't have to return too much stuff. Old habits die hard, after all.

Lina turned to take one last look back. The stones of the Sorcerer's Guild seemed to glow brilliantly with the morning sun behind them. Much closer, however, was her teacher Ralse Kalvos.

Ralse raised his hand, bedding his apprentice farewell from the edge of the town square.

Lina returned the gesture.

Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, but she fiercely rubbed them out. She'd never been the sentimental type before, and there was no reason to start now. She knew that she would see him again, someday. With an optimistic smile and a care free laugh, Lina turned around and headed off down the long road.

**Epilogue**

**--**_**Two days later--**_

Zolf sat back comfortably in his chair, enjoying the smell of roasting meat and sweet wine, the sounds of his celebrating companions, and, most of all, the feelings of euphoria brought upon by several glasses of wine that have been drunk in honor of a mission well-done.

By some miracle, they had managed to escape that disaster of a battle with their lives, the orihalcon statue was nearby and would easily be found, Master Zelgadis would be arriving at the Dragon Fangs' lair sometime in the next two to three days, and another rich town had just been ransacked by the Dragon Fang's to boot. Nothing could spoil this day.

In the background, Zolf could hear the Boss chortling loudly (and drunkenly) as the victory celebration continued on.

"You dirt bums done a good job!" the Boss declared as he scooped up a handful of coins from a nearby chest. "You really cleaned out that town for me, so here's a little shower for you!" With that, the Boss gleefully tossed the coins high up in the air, and watched as his cronies raced about to catch the raining gold.

One of these somehow landed upon the edge of Zolf's cup and spun about on the edge. A good omen indeed. Yes, Zolf thought once more with a smile, nothing in the universe could spoil this moment!

At that moment, a large fireball fell from the sky into the abandoned fortress that the Dragon Fangs used as a base, right in the midst of the celebrating bandits. A great explosion rocked the fort to its very foundations as bandits and debris and gold were thrown in every direction, and the night sky became filled with fire and smoke.

"What the hell's goin' on?" the Boss cried, while Zolf- clear on the other side of the compound- rose up from his chair and prepared a Dug Volt.

"Boss, over there! Bad news!" Eyepatch Man declared as he ran to his leader's side.

"Huh? Aaaaaah!!"

With that, some of the burning walls were parted by a magical force, revealing a grinning young girl with blazing red hair and a billowing black cloak.

"You! You! You!" the Boss stammered in horror, "I can't believe it! How did she find me!? That rotten little, magic-using Bandit Killer! Run for your lives, it's Lina Inverse!"

"That's me!" the girl laughed, unleashing yet another large fireball.

Though the Boss did his best to flee, he was unable to escape the blast, and was abruptly turned into a blazing, human torch.

Though taken by surprise, Zolf did not flee like Eyepatch and the others. He had come too far for his mission to be thwarted by the pint-sized, flat chested witch. Chanting the Dug Volt spell's full incantation in order to boost its power, the green haired wizard charged. But Lina Inverse was too quick. Having sensed the build-up of magical energy, the dreaded Bandit Killer spun on her heel and fired off a volley of Flare Arrows. With a brilliant flash of fire, Zolf hit the ground, out like a light and crispy fried.

Moments later, after a bit of unnecessary morale-boosting in the form of dramatic self-narration on Lina's part whilst she robbed the robbers blind, the Boss of the Dragon Fangs spoke his last words:

"Bu-bu-bu-bu-but that's OUR treasure! Bleargh!"

**--Three hours later--**

A lone man dressed in beige robes and cloak, his face hidden by a hood and ask, entered the still-smoking, burned out fortress that had once been the home of the Dragon Fangs. Although surprised at the devastation and burning corpses that he found, the man refused to let his curiosity over-take him until after he had found the statue and his friend.

Although he quickly found the treasure room, most of it was now gone, and a quick spell to detect his prize's astral signature revealed that what he had come for was now gone. With an irritated growl, the man moved on.

It did not take the masked man long to find his companion, although he hardly recognized him for the rather nasty second-degree burns that now covered the other's body.

"Master...Zelgadis..." Zolf groaned as he struggled to stay conscious. "Please...forgive me..."

"What happened here, Zolf?" Zelgadis asked. "Where is the stone?"

"Lina...Inverse!" was all the soon-to-be mummy man groaned before passing out once more.

**The End**

**Author's Note #2/Sneak Peak- **I'm not quite sure when I'll be able to get around with it, but I should soon be able to bring out Slayers Win. It will be a collection of short stories that take place when Shabrandigo was resurrected in the first season, and will focus on various characters shortly before, during, and in the aftermath during this time. So far, I only have the first one, focusing on my own OC Ralse Kalvos, written. The others I have not done yet because it will be you, yes YOU, the readers, who will decide which ones I will do in which order. True enough, updates will be slower that way (bringing my normally freaky-fast updates down to about 's average), but I'm hoping that we'll be able to have more fun that way. I will have a poll brought up soon on my profile page so that you can vote for who I should do next, and I will update it after each chapter. Whenever you vote in the "Other" spot, please pm me to tell me who you would like me to do one on.

In other news, I should be getting my first chapter of my first Bleach fan fic: Bleach: The Time Capsule War, sometime tomorrow, for those who are into Bleach. If it doesn't get up tomorrow, it will be up Wednesday (I have senior trip Monday and Tuesday. Yeah, I know, only two days for Senior Trip is kinda sucky). I have NO idea when I'm going to get around to Zangulus Chronicles, as I don't hardly have any plot-line up yet, and I have a novel that I'm trying to write/type at the same time. Plus I'm starting a job sometime this summer, as well as fencing lessons in June, so... Yeah. Don't hold your breath waiting for it.

Finally, one of my hobbies is coming up with designs for games, some of which I hope to someday have made into real games. One of my latest projects is a Slayers fighter game in the style of the Dragonball Z Budokai series. Slayers is, of course, one of the best anime ever made, but has only a few games, all of which were only ever released in Japan and are incredibly rare. Well I say phooey on that. Slayers deserves a few new games to bring it back into the public eye. However, I'm having a bit of trouble on a few details, and I would greatly appreciate it if some of you went down to Ahria's Slayers forum to take a look at my "Designing Slayers Game- Need Some Pointers" thread.

Thank you all, and good night.


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